Sharing my love of Dutch Oven cooking with everyday recipes and tips for the outdoor cook.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Chocolate lovers take notice. This sinfully delicious dessert is indescribably good and is guaranteed to satisfy hard core chocoholics everywhere. Somehow this mixture of sugar, water and batter transforms itself into the softest, brownie like cake floating in a syrupy sea of rich, chocolatey pudding. Think warm spoonfuls of decadent wonderfulness. It may seem a bit more complicated to make but it is so worth the effort. I made it in my 10 inch oven which I preheated for 5 minutes with 10 coals in a ring on the bottom and 18 on top. Once the oven was hot I then melted the butter before spreading the batter. Pour the hot sugar and water mixture carefully over the batter as it does bubble and spit. Rotate the lid halfway and check it after 20 minutes of cooking time. Also, you can use any kind of milk you have on hand, I used skim. The hardest part of making this heavenly dessert is waiting the 15 minutes for it to cool and the pudding to thicken and set. Be sure to serve it with a big spoon so you can scoop up all the warm syrup from the bottom of the pan. From Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2005.

Sift together flour, 3/4 cup sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt over a large bowl. Add milk, 3 Tblsp. butter and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Set aside.
Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar and water in a small saucepan or second dutch oven. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat.
Place a lightly oiled 10 inch dutch oven over a ring of 10 coals. Add lid with 16-18 coals on top. Preheat oven for 5 minutes. Melt 1 Tblsp. butter in dutch oven and swirl to evenly coat pan.
Add batter, spreading evenly over pan. Pour water mixture slowly over batter, do not stir. Mixture will bubble. Bake at 375 degrees, with one rotation, for 25 minutes or until cake is set. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.
Yeild 6 servings.
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I'm not the most experienced baker in the world but I don't see why you could increase the ingredients by half and make it in your 12 inch dutch oven. If you made it in your larger oven, as is, the cake layer will be thinner but you might be able to get away with it. The original recipe calls for a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Good luck whatever you decide to do, will be anxious to see how it comes out. Thanks for your comments, Liddy